Automatic temperature control apparatus for hot rolls



April 10, 1934. l. E. SMITH 1,954,027

- AUTOMATIC TEMPERATURE CONTROL APPARATUS FOR HOT ROLLS Filed Oct. 7, 1929 Patented Apr. 10, 1934 V 1,954,027

PUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATIC TEMPERATURE CONTROL.AP-

PARATUS FOR HOT ROLLS Ira Edward Smith, Stockton, Calif.

Application October 7, 1929 Serial No. 397,842

4 Claims. (01. 80-41) .Thisin'vention'relates to the steel industry, and which will be exceedingly effective for the purparticularly to the hot rolls of rolling millsof vapose for which it is designed. rious kinds, such as are used in forming relatively These objects I accomplish by means of such thin sheets from plates or bars. The present instructure and relative arrangement of parts as vention also particularly relates to the apparatus Will fully app ar by a pe u a f th fOIIOWihg C3 intended to be used in connection with the method specification and claims. of rolling mill operation, as far as the rolls are In the drawing similar characters of reference concerned, as set forth in my copending applicaindicate corresponding parts in the several views: tion for patent, Serial No. 397,255 filed October Fig. 1 is a diagram showing my heat control l, 1929. apparatus arranged in connection with a pair of 65 When the plates are passed through the rolls 9. rolls.

very great friction is generated in the rolls and Fig. 2 is an enlarged end view showing the spethe temperature of the same tends to rise to a cial mounting structure of thethermocouple.

very high degree-a condition accentuated by the Fig. 3 is a side view of the bracket member of heat of the metal being rolled. It has long been e Supporting structure. 7?

recognized that such excessive heat is something Referring w more particularly t h Charwhich should be avoided, since among other acters of reference on the drawing the numeral things it causes the rolls to roughup, war and 1' denotes the rolls of a rolling mill supported deteriorate, as well as causing the sheets when s usual in end f a s rolled to be of uneventhicknesses. The rolls are Associated With the r s a d d p on a 75 therefore arranged-with air and steam nozzle de-' Side f th l w r r011 ar b w x s 3 of stand- -vices which are turned on to cause'air and. steam d a acter whi h ar p n to t atmosphere to be directed against the rolls when it i d d on their lower ends and toward the rolls on their necessary to reduce the temperature of the same. pp e d being positioned t blOW v y 25, The control devices at present are w rk d by over both rolls adjacent their meeting faces and 89 hand, and the heat of the rolls both b f r d for substantially the full length thereof. Steam after the action of the cooling means is judged jet pipes 4 extend across e boxes and face by the color'of the rolls. This method is inaccu- Ward e T0118 80 that when the Ste-em is turned rate and unsatisfactory, since the temperature 011 a W of air a d Steam s directed, the

. cannot thus be judged sufficiently close to enable P p e of an injector, against the rolls to 0001 S5 the rolls to be maintained within close limits to the Seme- The use Of these hOXBSiS not new that certain temperature (approximately 750 with me, but heretofore the steam has been turned for steel rolling) which has been found to give the on or Off by hand, as the need for the same has b t r 1t 1 k been judged necessary by viewing the color of Umess t temperature f the T0115 the rolls, as set forth in the preamble. With my 5 tained even however the rolls tend to gather and ,nproved method 9 operation howeferi I their rolling surfaces become unevenly spaced,v automatm control the Steam m the and consequently the sheets are not rolledevenly. lowmg manner A1 m The steam pipe 5 which is common to both jet 1 g? 221 2 321 i gg z gf fi g sg g' g 22 2 3 pipes has a normally closed needle valve 6 there- 5 "m andwhich heretofore a n if;Zfiiiitftfti initi ititiiibiiiifiitiiti tt t f' 8 extending therebetween. The type, of valve j l The pnnclpal ObJect of my en mventlon. and its controlling mechanism is preferably that therefore is to avoid Such evils by Providing an which is fully shown and described in my Patent 133 ppa a us a ed n connection with the rolls, No. 1,594,021, dated July 27th, 1926, and hence a and actuated by the heat of the rolls themselves, detailed description of the same is unnecessary by means of which the temperature of the rolls is here. v

' ordinarily maintained within very close limits to To cause the magnet to be energized arid the a desired and predetermined degree of heat, withvalve-to be opened only when the rolls attain a 10 \I outany attention on the part of the operator being certain predetermined temperature I use a thernecessary once the mechanism has been set for .mocouple9, the not end of which engages. one I {a certain given-relative temperature. of the rolls centrally'ofits length. The ends of. 7 j-,A further object of the invention is to produce the thermocouple are connected to the millivolta simple and inexpensive device and yet one metetlmovement of a standard pyrometer con- The not end of the thermocouple engages the under surface of the lower roll centrally of its length, as stated, and is mounted in a particular manner so as to always bear evenly yet lightly against the roll as follows:

Secured to one of the end frames 2 in a suitable manner are vertically spaced vertical pins 13 on which a 90 angle bracket 14 is mounted for swivel movement in a plane transversely of the roll.

A diagonal brace 15 connects the vertical and horizontal legs of the bracket, the latter being uppermost and somewhat close to the under surface of the roll. The outer end of the bracket carries a saddle 16 which is swivelly mounted on a vertical axis. swivelly mounted on a horizontal pin 17 supported by said saddle is a rigid bar 18 having an adjustable weight 19 mounted thereon toward one end, and a heat insulation block 20 of asbestos or the like on the other end and on which the hot end of the thermocouple rests. The thermocouple extends from said block toward the other end of the bar, and intermediate its ends is secured to the bar by suitable means, such as wrappings of tape, as indicated at 21. The thermocouple is flat in a horizontal plane at its hot end and is curved on the same radius as that of the roll so that the latter will be engaged by said hot end for the full area of the same. A transversely extending brace rod 22 is adjustably connected at one end to the bracket 15 and at its other end to a support 23 secured to the frame 2. In this manner the bracket is held rigid while being capable of initial adjustment so as to push the thermocouple just where it'is needed-preferably close to the vertical center line of the roll and so that its curved hot end bears properly against the face of the roll. This arrangement also enables the bracket to be easily swung to one side and out of the way when the device is not in use, as when the rolls are being removed or replaced after repolishing or refinishing operations.

The length of thehorizontal arm of the bracket is substantially that of one half the length of the roll, the swivel mounting-of the saddle which supports the thermocouple-supporting bar enabling the latter to adjustably engage the roll midway of its lengtha position which I have found to be the most efficient and advantageous. The weighted bar on which the thermocouple is directly mounted causes the latter to bear against the roll with a constant pressure at all times, so that there is never any air gap beween the roll and thermocouple to interfere with the direct and unbroken transmission of heat from one to the other. At the same time the pressure of the thermocouple against the roll is not sufficient to cause undue wear of the thermocouple to be had.

In operation therefore the heat of the rolls is directly transmitted to the thermocouple and thence to the pyrometer. As long as the temperature of 750 F. (or to whatever temperature the pointer 11 has been set) is maintained, the valve magnet remains deenergized and the steam valve remains closed, as previously stated.

When however the temperature rises to any appreciable extent above this point the magnet becomes energized by the action of the pyrometer as controlled by the thermocouple; the steam valve is opened and steam and air are therefore directed through the boxes 3 against the rolls to cool the same. As soon as the normal heat of the rolls is regained, which heat will of course be transmitted through the thermocouple to the pyrometer, the steam valve will be again closed.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviation from such detail may be resorted to as do not appear from a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an automatic heat control apparatus for hot-rolls, a thermocouple disposed under one of the rolls, a substantially horizontal bar pivoted intermediate its ends at a fixed point relative to the rolls and on which the thermocouple is mounted with its hot end adjacent one end of the bar and positioned to contact with the roll, a weight on the bar toward its opposite end, roll cooling means and means actuated by a predetermined heat in the thermocouple for then causing the cooling means to function.

2. A structure as in claim 1 with a heat insulation block secured to the bar and on which the not end of the thermocouple rests.

3. In an automatic heat control apparatus for hot-rolls, roll cooling means, a bracket under the lower roll, means supporting said bracket for horizontal swivel movement transversely of the roll, adjustable brace means for holding the bracket against such movement, a bar pivoted in connection with the bracket for swivel movement in a vertical plane, a thermocouple mounted on the bar and having its hot end adjacent one end of said bar to engage the under surface of the adjacent roll and means actuated by a predetermined heat in the thermocouple to place the cooling means in operation.

4. In an automatic heat control apparatus for hot-rolls, roll cooling means, a bracket under the lower roll, means supporting said bracket for horizontal swivel movement transversely of the roll, means for adjusting and holding the bracket in a fixed position, a saddle swivelly mounted on the outer end of the bracket for movement about a vertical axis, a bar pivoted intermediate its ends in the saddle for movement in a vertical plane, a thermocouple mounted on the bar with its hot end adjacent one end of the same to contact with the face of the adjacent roll, a weight on the bar toward its opposite end and means actuated by a predetermined heat in the thermocouple to place the cooling means in operation.

IRA EDWARD SMITH. 

